Property Managers combined with Hands On HOA?

[Shannon Erickson]

Hi all! I own a condo in NW Washington, DC that has been my primary residence and I will start renting it out soon. I feel as though I might be a bit too much of a newbie to successfully be a landlord for the first time (have only been a landlord to roommates doing a house hack method- never on a property that I have not lived in myself) so I was considering hiring a property manager. In DC, the price point makes me choke up a bit, mostly because most of the services they provide are things that my HOA already does. I pay a hefty HOA price but they are very attentive and provide a lot as we have a HOA board (people that live in the building) as well as the fact that they hired a separate property management company. This separate property management company provides at least- HVAC inspections, extermination, (both of those help since the condo will be entered at least once every other month), emergency lock out help, on call support for situations like frozen pipes, security concerns, building wide relevant alerting system, etc. The "only" thing I really need help with is getting a tenant in originally- building a lease, photos of unit, application, tenant screening, rent collection, etc. I know a lot of this can be provided through things like Zillow rentals, Rent Redi, etc. but it sounds a little overwhelming to start when I'm new to being a landlord so I was thinking to just use a property manager for the first year and then maybe see if I can inherit the lease they made, etc. and try my hand at being the property manager of the property moving forward. Is there a such thing as a property manager that would give a discount considering our building property manager already provides a lot of services? Any other thoughts and input would be appreciated! Thanks for reading all these details :)